In My Copious Free Time

A different inauguration conversation

Joe and I are watching the inauguration coverage on DVR and we got to the "backstage" walk-throughs by the former vice presidents. Joe was surprised to see Dan Quayle (he just doesn't enter the average person's consciousness too often, I suppose) and grumbled a bit about his presence. The conversation went a little something like this (a lot like this as it's about verbatim):

Me: Joe, the man was Vice President of the United States. He deserves to be there.
Joe: You know what John Nance Garner said the Vice Presidency is worth, right?
Me: Yeah, I know, "It isn't worth a warm bucket of piss."
Joe: Right
Me: Well, guess what? The value of the office just went up because today it's also good for a prime seat for the most significant inauguration of this country's history.*"

Does that mean the bucket has gone from warm to piping hot? Now there's an upgrade.

*I suppose you could make an argument for Washington or Lincoln, but in terms of how far we've come, I stand behind my hyperbole.

"Change has come to America"

Regardless of political affiliation or ideology, there is no denying the historical significance of this day. It's a day I always thought was possible yet never believed I would see in my lifetime. A day that draws a line forever between a past where millions of children were told "you can be whatever you want" and a future when they really can be. A day when the still present divide of race is narrowed immeasurably.

I think about the consistent rallying cry of the Obama campaign: Yes We Can. Simple, powerful words.

Yes We Can...

...bring people together.
...give people hope.
...begin to heal some of the wounds of people who have been treated as "less than."
...repair our standing in the eyes of the world.
...restore belief that our government represents the richness of diversity in our country, not simply the rich.
...begin the hard work of repairing our economy for the good of all, not simply the good of Wall Street.

I'm not wholly idealistic about this. I know that millions of people do not agree with me. I know many are unhappy with the result of this election in terms of political ideology and many are even upset that a white man is not taking that oath today. Today erases neither partisanship nor racism. But for today (and probably many days to come), I will celebrate. I am proud to be a liberal. I am proud to be a Democrat. I am proud to be an American. I will rejoice at the progress our nation has made. I will feel renewed hope that we can continue along that path.

Change has truly come to America.

200 more words

It just so happened that my successful month of 100 Words participation coincided with Hurricane Katrina. I had planned to write this post this weekend and share the entries, but what I didn't count on was Gustav.

I was in Memphis, Tennessee that week doing some client work. We were staying at this funny Holiday Inn on the University of Memphis campus. UM has a school of resort management named after Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson, and I believe the hotel itself serves as a kind of laboratory for students. That in and of itself makes it unique, but it's also an all-suite HI (we stayed there many times while working with this client - we called the rooms our apartments). And on one of the floors there was a Kemmons Wilson museum with all sorts of memorabilia and big quotes on the walls. Each room had not only a Bible and a phone book, but a Kemmons Wilson biography.

To be honest, I hadn't followed news of the storm very closely. It was a high-stakes event we were in town for and I was consumed by the preparation. But I will never forget the feeling of despair while watching the news, the way the hotel quickly filled with pacing refugees. Reading these entries now is sobering in that the immense scale of this disaster had yet to sink in. I remember one phone report by Jeanne Meserve, so tinged with emotion and horror that the sound of her voice moved me to tears as much as the scene she described.

I am not a traditionally religious person - there is no being I might pray to - but when I watch Gustav follow the Katrina-worn path, I'm doing something akin to prayer that the suffering will be as slight as possible.

29 August 2005

I am in a Memphis hotel, a place whose website notes that they allow pets. When I read this, I simply thought it was unusual. Little did I know it would become noteworthy. See, a hurricane has been pummeling the Gulf coast all day. A million people are streaming north, some landing here, 350 miles inland at a business hotel with an unusual but fortunate acceptance of animals. They pace with their dogs along the hallways, worrying about the homes that might be gone, the precious objects they couldn’t bring along, the neighbor whom they couldn’t convince to also flee.

30 August 2005

This morning I knew things were bad, but I clung to naive optimism. “Maybe they can recover by Mardi Gras,” I thought. What a triumphant celebration that would be. As I had a chance to watch the news during session breaks, I realized my utter folly. Levees breached. New Orleans under water. Even now, I can’t comprehend the horror facing those trapped in that drowned bowl of a city. How will they survive? How many are dead? From the bedroom of my suite I listened to Jeanne Meserve describe the terrible scene, her cracking voice more powerful than any picture.

blogging the old-fashioned way

Hello everyone, it's me again.

Lest you all think I've forgotten how to type, I figured I'd blog the old-fashioned way for a change. Just  a quick update on what's going on as that's about all I have mental bandwidth for at this moment.

I had a terrific work experience in Trinidad and I'm almost done with a piece about being in the minority and how that impacted me. I did post some pictures from the trip on my Flickr account, though.

After four days away, I came home Sunday before last and Joe and Alex left the next day to go to Pennsylvania. Joe's father is very ill and since Joe is in the down period before starting his new job, there's really no sense in him not spending as much time with his parents as possible. He was planning to drive home today, but those plans needed to change, so now I'm planning on going to get Alex either this afternoon or tomorrow. I miss them both, but Alex is really ready to be home and needs to start getting settled in to a school-like routine. I'd just give anything if Joe weren't having to go through this, though.

On Sunday my friend Chris came over and made brunch (among his many talents, he's an excellent cook and went to culinary school) and we just chilled on the couch and watched Katt Williams.

It's hard to believe that Alex is starting school next week. I said something about being on maternity leave 7 years ago and still being mad that someone took my inbox while I was out. A co-worker chastised me saying it hadn't been 7 years and was floored to realize that Alex is in fact turning 7 in 6 weeks. SEVEN!!! In the SECOND GRADE!!!

This weekend I broke out the TED 2008 DVD set and watched a few of the talks. It's such a shame that many of them are so edited for online posting. Ben Zander's talk is fully twice as long on the DVD as it is on the TED site. I understand why they do it, but the editing means web viewers miss the "beyond the fuck it" story.

If you can't tell, I am really enjoying video blogging and I can't say enough about how wonderful everyone's feedback and support has been. I'm pretty floored by the response, to be honest. I never expected to be getting comments from mostly strangers, or to have people SUBSCRIBING to my channel! But then again, I never expected to vlog in the first place. My videos can be found on my channel at YouTube. Do drop by and say hello and join in the fun by giving vlogging a whirl!

And rather than telling you what I thought about Hillary Clinton's speech last night at the Democratic National Convention, I'll just embed last night's vlog. Which is a little about the speech and a little about the poem it made me think of. (If you read enough poetry, everything reminds you of a poem. That is a good thing.)

Chauvinism rears its ugly head

The following letter ran in the Glens Falls Post Star, the paper for a town a bit north of where I live. Kirsten Gillibrand was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006 in the district that borders mine and while I couldn't vote for her, I followed her campaign closely and was very happy to see her win. This letter absolutely turns my stomach.

The Glens Falls Post Star
Published: Thursday, December 20th, 2007

Editor:

Regarding a story that appeared in The Post-Star on Dec. 6: "Rep. Gillibrand announces she is pregnant."

First of all, I must admit that I am a male chauvinist and that there are, thankfully, differences between men and women. There are many occupations suitable for women and their physical attributes. Carrying a weapon while serving in the Armed Forces and firefighting are not suitable lines of work for women to prove that they are physically equal to men. How many male police officers feel comfortable with a 100 pound female backup?

And now, I have to add serving in the U.S. House and Senate as an occupation that may not be suitable for women.

Ms. Gillibrand's current pregnancy makes a strong case for my opinion. Ms. Gillibrand was elected to serve her constituency, and while she is away from her elected office she cannot perform those duties. The taxpayers who were duped into voting for her will have to pay for her medical benefits. Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer, Ms. Gillibrand receives excellent health benefits, courtesy of her constituents. We will be without representation in Congress for a time leading up to and following the child's birth. There will be times when she and the new baby will visit doctors. You can add those days to the total that she will not be serving her constituents.

The current base salary (2006) for members of the House and Senate is $165,200 per year. I wonder if Ms. Gillibrand will do the right thing and reimburse the U.S. Treasury in the amount of $452.60, her daily salary, for each day that she is unable to perform her elected duties. For some reason, I doubt it.

RON BLACHUT

Queensbury

Best sarcastic political bumper sticker

Seen on a car this morning:

At least the war on the environment is going well.

"I'm in"

I figured this was going to happen, but hearing that it's official is...wow.  Say what you will, but this is MY senator, and she has done a fantastic job. In any case, this is going to be a very interesting campaign season.

My Garrison Keillor impression

And now, a poem for today...

Hard Rain
by Tony Hoagland

After I heard It's a Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
played softly by an accordion quartet
through the ceiling speakers at the Springdale Shopping Mall,
I understood there's nothing
we can't pluck the stinger from,

nothing we can't turn into a soft drink flavor or a t-shirt.
Even serenity can become something horrible
if you make a commercial about it
using smiling, white-haired people

quoting Thoreau to sell retirement homes
in the Everglades, where the swamp has been
drained and bulldozed into a nineteen-hole golf course
with electrified alligator barriers.

You can't keep beating yourself up, Billy
I heard the therapist say on television
to the teenage murderer,
About all those people you killed—
You just have to be the best person you can be,

one day at a time—

and everybody in the audience claps and weeps a little,
because the level of deep feeling has been touched,
and they want to believe that
the power of Forgiveness is greater
than the power of Consequence, or History.

Dear Abby:
My father is a businessman who travels.
Each time he returns from one of his trips,
his shoes and trousers
are covered with blood-
but he never forgets to bring me a nice present;
Should I say something?
                                          Signed, America.

I used to think I was not part of this,
that I could mind my own business and get along,
but that was just another song
that had been taught to me since birth—
whose words I was humming under my breath,
as I was walking through the Springdale Mall.

Oh, come on

From this story about a Northwest flight turning back due to "behavior of concern" on the part of 12 passengers who were taken into custody upon landing:

In addition, some passengers unfastened their seatbelts while the light requiring they be fastened was still illuminated, the official said.

The horror.

Upsetting

On Monday, I arrived at work to find someone who works for me crying. After coming into my office, she told me that one of her best friends had died over the weekend. The friend was 7 months pregnant, and amazingly, they were able to save her baby. She said they believed her death was the result of a blood clot. Shocking and so very, very sad.

On Wednesday night, I logged into CNN.com to see what was up in the world and came across a story titled "Woman dies in heat at Red Sox game." I didn't click on the link immediately, but it quickly dawned on me that this was the same person, so I watched the video. At no time did they mention a blood clot, or anything other than "her heart had stopped." But the clear implication is that it was heat related. I hoped the initial report about a clot had been wrong, because it would really bother me to think the media had twisted the tragic story of a young woman's death, of a man who lost his partner in life, of a fragile baby who would never know his mother, into something to boost ratings by connecting it to the already big story of the heat wave. No, I thought, it must not have been a clot after all.

So today I asked my coworker. Apparently everyone is very upset over the media angle. I didn't even know this woman, and I'm upset. Aren't there enough people who will die needlessly because of the heat without pulling this story into the mix? It's disgusting.